VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government holds online training related to the digitalization of marketing and management of halal products for MSME players to increase their capacity and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This program is open to the public and in the future it can be held massively," said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto at the launch of a virtualization program for marketing and management of halal products for MSMEs in Jakarta, Tuesday.

In the training, the government collaborated with four sharia-based digital partners, namely LinkAja Syariah, Tokopedia Salam, Blibli Hasanah, and Bukalapak, which was held from October to December 2020.

According to the Coordinating Minister Airlangga, after participating in the training program, participants who are deemed to have met the qualifications will get halal certification and will also be directed to access help services at integrated MSME business service centers in regions.

The first stage of training participants said the Coordinating Minister for Airlangga, prioritized groups of ministries/agencies and community organizations.

On the same occasion, the Minister of Cooperatives and UKM, Teten Masduki, said that the program would be followed by 1,000 MSME players.

Furthermore, the Coordinating Minister Airlangga said the COVID-19 pandemic had greatly pressured MSMEs which resulted in decreased sales, layoffs so that they had difficulty repaying loans.

On the other hand, he said, the pandemic has indirectly changed consumer behavior in shopping, who has now shifted to using online transactions using digital platforms.

Even so, he added, business transformation through the use of digital technology is not automatically optimal for MSME players.

"They are constrained by problems of product quality, production capacity, digital literacy that has not been mastered," said the Coordinating Minister for Airlangga. Meanwhile, he continued, the halal lifestyle has experienced rapid development in the last two decades.

Coordinating Minister Airlangga quoted the State of Global Islamic Economy data from 2019-2020, the consumption of Muslim lifestyle increased from $2.2 trillion in 2018, projected to reach $3.2 trillion in 2024.

"However, the increase is also influenced by Indonesia's high imports of halal products and this needs to be followed by domestic production capabilities so that MSME products can enter the global market," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga. (Antaranews)